Another drowning in LaCrosse

[homer]

Another guy drowned in the Mississippi over the weekend. I'm certain these are all accidents but can't they put up a fence or something? I haven't been to LaCrosse in years so I don't know the lay of the land but I would think some kind of barrier could be constructed. Yeah, it's their fault for getting hammered, but at this point unless you are going to close the bars at 11pm you need to do something else.

[bigredrobbo]

Another guy drowned in the Mississippi over the weekend. I'm certain these are all accidents but can't they put up a fence or something? I haven't been to LaCrosse in years so I don't know the lay of the land but I would think some kind of barrier could be constructed. Yeah, it's their fault for getting hammered, but at this point unless you are going to close the bars at 11pm you need to do something else.

 

We have a hard enough time keeping drunk people out of cars, never mind rivers...

[Fatter than Joey]

I just assumed that serial killer is on the loose again.

[Glennron]

Actually, this time the student fell from the Cass Street Bridge, so basically it was a lot farther fall than when they are ground level. Also apparently the student goes to the University of Minnesota.

[Tailgat0r76]

I go to La Crosse and word around campus is that it's starting to sound like a suicide.

I don't want to judge someone before conclusive facts are out but people said they saw him "fall off" the bridge.

If you're suicidal and want to go out with a bang, it seems like this would be a great way to do it...

 

 

Also, supposedly (of course a 'he said, she said' type thing) many of the people who have drowned in the river were depressed or had suicidal tendencies.

 

Take with a grain of salt

[dadofandrew]

If LaCrosse is anything like Eau Claire, they'd have to fence off about 5 miles of river, both sides. And besides, this one fell/jumped off a bridge.

 

Alcohol and irresponsible behavior often do not end well. I'm thankful these victims didn't take anyone else with 'em.

[logan82]

Isn't it Octoberfest in LaCrosse right now?

[RockCoCougars]

I think there is a serial killer in LaCrosse. Some of the prime suspects are Jack Daniels, Jose Cuervo, and Anheuser Busch. There is a possibility that a female with the first name of Mary Jane could be implicated as well.

[PlayerHader]

I heard there is actually a guy running the whole thing. He is referred to those under him as Captain. Last name Morgan.

[RyDogg66]

Al Koholic is another guy in the La Crosse area suspected of having a hand in these drownings.

 

I went to UW-Lax. There isnt a serial killer, there is a serious drinking culture and many immature "adults" who have drinking problems.

[mothershipconnection]

Like Al said, it's impossible to just fence off a body of water. Besides, a lot of us use those shorelines for recreation/fishing/enjoy the scenery. Now, if there's one particularly dangerous spot on top of a cliff or something, it'd maybe be doable, but you can't just dam up the water so drunk kids don't fall in. Additionally, drunk college guys wouldn't see the barrier as something to protect them, they'd see it as an obstacle they must overcome to fulfill their destiny. When you're drunk, fences get all in-your-face and start to mock you.

[Chio151]

I don't think there is a serial killer in La Crosse.

 

I think all these students drank too much and underestimated the river.

 

That said, I find it disgusting that people are cracking jokes about this. Families have lost their sons to tragedy here, act appropriate.

[IslandsAC]

"Like Al said, it's impossible to just fence off a body of water."

 

There is a park about 2 blocks from downtown that has a jetty with a 5 foot drop into 9 foot deep water. I don't think anyone's recommending fencing off the river from here to New Orleans.

 

Why this is funny to some of you is entirely beyond me.

[SheetsCyYoung04]

No one finds people drowning in the river funny. My prayers are with all the victims families. I think most people are finding funny the high unlikely theories about a serial killer when it is 99.99999% likely over intoxication is to blame.

[Katuluu]

Charlie Chaplin was a British actor who became a Hollywood star after joining with Max Sennet during a music hall tour of the United States in 1913. He is usually remembered for his silent picture roles as a little man with a mustache wearing a baggy suit and derby. Many consider Chaplin to be cinema's greatest comedian. When the priest, who was attending him on his deathbed, said "May the Lord have mercy on your soul," Chaplin quickly replied, "Why not? After all, it belongs to him."

Completely inappropriate that Chaplin would crack jokes about something so serious as his own death. I mean really, where does he get off mocking such events?

 

Gallows humor is totally acceptable behavior in light of horrible situations, and examples of such are found throughout recorded history. Humor does not diminish the tragedy or mock those most effected by it, but it does bring levity to a regrettable and tragic situation. A situation, in the case of LaCrosse, where a town has chosen to deliberately and willfully believe in a phantom "serial killer" rather then serve the public by taking needed measures to prevent such tragedies from occurring again. My little sister graduated from LaCrosse, and I am disgusted at the cities and communities continued negligence. But I fully reserve the right, as does she, to add needed humor and humanity to such reprehensible behavior that is perpetrated by a deliberately obtuse public.

[IslandsAC]

The stigma that a majority of people in La Crosse believe there's a serial killer is almost as farfetched as actually believing there's a serial killer. The city knows there's a drinking problem just like there's a drinking problem in every college city in the nation. The Alcohol Task Force was created 5 years ago to address the issue and the city has been throwing money at them ever since. The fact that I don't agree with the way they're going about it is a completely different story, but please don't pretend like La Crosse is ignoring it or that its residents aren't smart enough to realize that it is a problem. Since the drowning last year, the students alongside the police department have developed a River Watch program where students patrol the dangerous spots in the park along the river (where the majority of drownings have occurred) on Thursday to Saturday nights. The bars have stopped providing 'all you can drink' specials. The police department funded more undercover police officers to break up house parties in an attempt to curb binge drinking at its root. Is any of it working? Who knows. But I don't think La Crosse has "chosen to deliberately and willfully believe in a phantom "serial killer" rather then serve the public by taking needed measures to prevent such tragedies from occurring again."

 

And I didn't mean to come off so harsh before, humor is definitely good and I've certainly made light of some dark situations myself. I think tact is important, but then again I didn't really show much with my comment either.

[Chio151]

I think there is a serial killer in LaCrosse. Some of the prime suspects are Jack Daniels, Jose Cuervo, and Anheuser Busch. There is a possibility that a female with the first name of Mary Jane could be implicated as well.

...

I heard there is actually a guy running the whole thing. He is referred to those under him as Captain. Last name Morgan.

...

Al Koholic is another guy in the La Crosse area suspected of having a hand in these drownings.

 

--------

To me, that is not tactful gallows humor. Maybe because I attended La Crosse and was familiar with one of the men who died, I can see the human side of it. Do college students drink too much? Yes. Do college aged men have too much pride to travel with friends? Often. These men, generally, have made lapses in judgement. How many of you can claim innocence in those areas? As a whole, I find the situation so sad.

Agreed though, the community acted to slowly because they held on to the notion that there was some other outside force causing this instead of looking inward. It's a common theme.

[PlayerHader]

How is making fun of a baseless conspiracy of a serial killer being disrespectful at all to those who have died. Alcohol has been proven to be a factor in each of these cases.

 

Do you have a problem with people personifying the true culprit?

[TooLiveBrew]

I know bridges and rivers are very popular sites for suicide attempts/successes, and alcohol can really live up to its name as a "depressant." For people with problems on their mind, booze only magnifies them. I think while some/many of these deaths were accidental, but I think it's naive (not that anyone here necessarily is) to say that the univ./community needs to do more to address the drinking - sounds like they're working hard at that. Sometimes, people feel like they want to die, and getting hammered & having a bridge over a large river can only magnify that temptation. Don't know if what I've said here makes any sense to anyone else, but I feel that not all (or even the majority) of these cases have been accidents.

[dadofandrew]

A group of residents lambasted the police chief for not doing enough to catch the "serial killer" a year or two ago. I find this much more reprehensible than making light of a supposed killer that does not exist.

[IslandsAC]

"How is making fun of a baseless conspiracy of a serial killer being disrespectful at all to those who have died. Alcohol has been proven to be a factor in each of these cases."

 

I understand your sentiment, but I think it is being disrespectful to all those who have made attempts to better the situation. It implies that everyone who lives in La Crosse is ignorant enough to pretend that no one drinks too much and instead blames it on a serial killer. Where are all these people that think there's a serial killer? I've never met one and I lived in La Crosse for the last 4 years. It may have been a different story in the past, but the only time I've heard legitimate mention of a serial killer is in jokes like these.

 

Anyway, thats more than enough from me http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. As for this weekend, it sure is sad that this sounds more and more like a suicide. I would think about the only thing worse than finding out that someone died in a river is finding out that they wanted to.

[stoutdude04]

I could be way off base here...but I had heard that he climed up the bridge. Did noone driving by not think to themselves that they should perhaps do something? Like I said, it is just what I have heard in a few of my classes. I have heard its a pretty busy bridge. I just find it hard to believe that noone stopped to do something. Or is the story I heard completely wrong? Looking for someone to clue me in please. Thanks.

[Gormans sideburns]

First off, I don't believe in the serial killer idea. With that said, it is pretty scary with all of the deaths in that area under "questionable" circumstances. I read an article out of Minnesota a couple years ago that chronicled all of the deaths in the river from where the Mississippi begins down through the state of Iowa, and the number of young male deaths over the past 15 years was mind-boggling (or mind-bottling if you wish). I attended school in LaCrosse for 4.5 years and spent many drunken nights on or around the 3rd Street area. Never, I repeat NEVER did I have the inclanation to take a walk by myself or with others near the Mississippi River. For those who don't know, 3rd Street is three blocks from the river and in the opposite direction of UW-LaCrosse campus. I guess I don't have any answers or theories, but to say that it is just plain weird.

[RockCoCougars]

I'm just tired of hearing about a bogeyman serial killer.

 

For some reason, drunk young men seem to gravitate towards water. I've personally seen this many times. I've had friends who got wasted and went to "be alone" by various bodies of water. I also had friends who liked to get drunk and swim across the river. Alcohol and water do not mix well.

 

I am under the impression that LaCrosse is especially dangerous because you can basically walk right off a drop off into the river. I would assume this would make it difficult to crawl out, especially considering the dangerous currents in the Mississippi. When I lived in Minneapolis, people drowned in the river all the time. The only reason that is wasn't publicized like the LaCrosse drownings is that they were usually drifters and/or vagrants and not college kids.

 

I guess if people want to believe that these drownings are the result of a serial killer and not irresponsible behavior, it doesn't affect me in the least. Maybe the fear of a killer by the river will act as a deterrent by keeping the drunks away.

[homer]

Maybe I'm missing something, but who in this thread said it was a serial killer?

 

I was just asking if anything could be done in the way of a fence near the 3rd St bars to prevent people from getting so close to the water. Like I said, I'm not familiar with LaCrosse and don't know the geography, but I seriously doubt they'd need to build the Great Wall of China in order to prevent some of these from occurring.